manpagez: man pages & more
man string(n)
Home | html | info | man
string(n)                    Tcl Built-In Commands                   string(n)



______________________________________________________________________________


NAME

       string - Manipulate strings


SYNOPSIS

       string option arg ?arg ...?
______________________________________________________________________________


DESCRIPTION

       Performs  one  of  several string operations, depending on option.  The
       legal options (which may be abbreviated) are:

       string cat ?string1? ?string2...?
              Concatenate the given strings just like  placing  them  directly |
              next to each other and return the resulting compound string.  If |
              no strings are present, the result is an empty string.           |

              This primitive is occasionally  handier  than  juxtaposition  of |
              strings  when  mixed  quoting  is  wanted, or when the aim is to |
              return the result of a concatenation without resorting to return |
              -level  0,  and  is more efficient than building a list of argu- |
              ments and using join with an empty join string.                  |

       string compare ?-nocase? ?-length length? string1 string2
              Perform a character-by-character comparison of  strings  string1
              and  string2.  Returns -1, 0, or 1, depending on whether string1
              is lexicographically  less  than,  equal  to,  or  greater  than
              string2.   If  -length  is specified, then only the first length
              characters are used in the comparison.  If -length is  negative,
              it  is  ignored.   If -nocase is specified, then the strings are
              compared in a case-insensitive manner.

       string equal ?-nocase? ?-length length? string1 string2
              Perform a character-by-character comparison of  strings  string1
              and string2.  Returns 1 if string1 and string2 are identical, or
              0 when not.  If -length is specified, then only the first length
              characters  are used in the comparison.  If -length is negative,
              it is ignored.  If -nocase is specified, then  the  strings  are
              compared in a case-insensitive manner.

       string first needleString haystackString ?startIndex?
              Search  haystackString for a sequence of characters that exactly
              match the characters in  needleString.   If  found,  return  the
              index  of  the  first  character  in the first such match within
              haystackString.  If not found,  return  -1.   If  startIndex  is
              specified  (in  any  of  the forms described in STRING INDICES),
              then the search is constrained to start with  the  character  in
              haystackString specified by the index.  For example,

                     string first a 0a23456789abcdef 5

              will return 10, but

                     string first a 0123456789abcdef 11

              will return -1.

       string index string charIndex
              Returns  the  charIndex'th  character of the string argument.  A
              charIndex of 0 corresponds to the first character of the string.
              charIndex  may  be  specified as described in the STRING INDICES
              section.

              If charIndex is less than 0 or greater  than  or  equal  to  the
              length  of the string then this command returns an empty string.

       string is class ?-strict? ?-failindex varname? string
              Returns 1 if string is a valid member of the specified character
              class,  otherwise  returns  0.  If -strict is specified, then an
              empty string returns 0, otherwise an empty string will return  1
              on  any class.  If -failindex is specified, then if the function
              returns 0, the index in the string where the class was no longer
              valid will be stored in the variable named varname.  The varname
              will not be set if string is returns 1.  The following character
              classes are recognized (the class name can be abbreviated):

              alnum       Any Unicode alphabet or digit character.

              alpha       Any Unicode alphabet character.

              ascii       Any  character  with a value less than \u0080 (those
                          that are in the 7-bit ascii range).

              boolean     Any of the forms allowed to Tcl_GetBoolean.

              control     Any Unicode control character.

              digit       Any  Unicode  digit  character.   Note   that   this
                          includes characters outside of the [0-9] range.

              double      Any of the forms allowed to Tcl_GetDoubleFromObj.

              entier      Any of the valid string formats for an integer value |
                          of arbitrary size in Tcl, with optional  surrounding |
                          whitespace.  The  formats accepted are exactly those |
                          accepted by the C routine Tcl_GetBignumFromObj.

              false       Any of the forms allowed to Tcl_GetBoolean where the
                          value is false.

              graph       Any Unicode printing character, except space.

              integer     Any of the valid string formats for a 32-bit integer
                          value in Tcl, with optional surrounding  whitespace.
                          In  case of overflow in the value, 0 is returned and
                          the varname will contain -1.

              list        Any proper list structure, with optional surrounding
                          whitespace. In case of improper list structure, 0 is
                          returned and the varname will contain the  index  of
                          the "element" where the list parsing fails, or -1 if
                          this cannot be determined.

              lower       Any Unicode lower case alphabet character.

              print       Any Unicode printing character, including space.

              punct       Any Unicode punctuation character.

              space       Any Unicode whitespace  character,  mongolian  vowel
                          separator  (U+180e), zero width space (U+200b), word
                          joiner  (U+2060)  or  zero  width   no-break   space
                          (U+feff) (=BOM).

              true        Any of the forms allowed to Tcl_GetBoolean where the
                          value is true.

              upper       Any upper case alphabet  character  in  the  Unicode
                          character set.

              wideinteger Any  of  the  valid forms for a wide integer in Tcl,
                          with optional surrounding whitespace.   In  case  of
                          overflow in the value, 0 is returned and the varname
                          will contain -1.

              wordchar    Any Unicode word character.  That  is  any  alphanu-
                          meric  character, and any Unicode connector punctua-
                          tion characters (e.g. underscore).

              xdigit      Any hexadecimal digit character ([0-9A-Fa-f]).

              In the case of boolean, true and false,  if  the  function  will
              return  0,  then the varname will always be set to 0, due to the
              varied nature of a valid boolean value.

       string last needleString haystackString ?lastIndex?
              Search haystackString for a sequence of characters that  exactly
              match  the  characters  in  needleString.   If found, return the
              index of the first character  in  the  last  such  match  within
              haystackString.   If  there  is  no  match,  then return -1.  If
              lastIndex is specified (in any of the forms described in  STRING
              INDICES),  then  only  the  characters  in  haystackString at or
              before the specified lastIndex will be considered by the search.
              For example,

                     string last a 0a23456789abcdef 15

              will return 10, but

                     string last a 0a23456789abcdef 9

              will return 1.

       string length string
              Returns  a  decimal  string  giving  the number of characters in
              string.  Note that this is not necessarily the same as the  num-
              ber  of  bytes used to store the string.  If the value is a byte
              array value (such  as  those  returned  from  reading  a  binary
              encoded  channel),  then this will return the actual byte length
              of the value.

       string map ?-nocase? mapping string
              Replaces substrings in string based on the  key-value  pairs  in
              mapping.   mapping  is  a list of key value key value ...  as in
              the form returned by array get.  Each instance of a key  in  the
              string  will  be  replaced  with  its  corresponding  value.  If
              -nocase is specified, then matching is done  without  regard  to
              case differences. Both key and value may be multiple characters.
              Replacement is done in an ordered manner, so the  key  appearing
              first  in  the list will be checked first, and so on.  string is
              only iterated over once, so earlier key replacements  will  have
              no affect for later key matches.  For example,

                     string map {abc 1 ab 2 a 3 1 0} 1abcaababcabababc

              will return the string 01321221.

              Note  that if an earlier key is a prefix of a later one, it will
              completely mask the later one.  So if the  previous  example  is
              reordered like this,

                     string map {1 0 ab 2 a 3 abc 1} 1abcaababcabababc

              it will return the string 02c322c222c.

       string match ?-nocase? pattern string
              See if pattern matches string; return 1 if it does, 0 if it does
              not.  If -nocase is specified,  then  the  pattern  attempts  to
              match  against the string in a case insensitive manner.  For the
              two strings to match, their contents must  be  identical  except
              that the following special sequences may appear in pattern:

              *         Matches  any sequence of characters in string, includ-
                        ing a null string.

              ?         Matches any single character in string.

              [chars]   Matches any character in the set given by chars.  If a
                        sequence  of  the  form x-y appears in chars, then any
                        character between x  and  y,  inclusive,  will  match.
                        When  used  with  -nocase, the end points of the range
                        are converted to lower case  first.   Whereas  {[A-z]}
                        matches  "_" when matching case-sensitively (since "_"
                        falls between the "Z" and "a"), with -nocase  this  is
                        considered  like  {[A-Za-z]}  (and  probably  what was
                        meant in the first place).

              \x        Matches the single character x.  This provides  a  way
                        of  avoiding the special interpretation of the charac-
                        ters *?[]\ in pattern.

       string range string first last
              Returns a range of consecutive characters from string,  starting
              with  the  character  whose  index  is first and ending with the
              character whose index is last. An index of 0 refers to the first
              character of the string.  first and last may be specified as for
              the index method.  If first is less than zero then it is treated
              as  if it were zero, and if last is greater than or equal to the
              length of the string then it is treated as if it were  end.   If
              first is greater than last then an empty string is returned.

       string repeat string count
              Returns string repeated count number of times.

       string replace string first last ?newstring?
              Removes  a range of consecutive characters from string, starting
              with the character whose index is  first  and  ending  with  the
              character  whose  index  is  last.   An index of 0 refers to the
              first character of the string.  First and last may be  specified
              as  for the index method.  If newstring is specified, then it is
              placed in the removed character range.  If first  is  less  than
              zero  then  it  is  treated  as  if it were zero, and if last is
              greater than or equal to the length of the  string  then  it  is
              treated as if it were end.  If first is greater than last or the
              length of the initial string, or last is less than 0,  then  the
              initial string is returned untouched.

       string reverse string
              Returns  a string that is the same length as string but with its
              characters in the reverse order.

       string tolower string ?first? ?last?
              Returns a value equal to string except that all upper (or title)
              case  letters  have  been  converted to lower case.  If first is
              specified, it refers to the first char index in  the  string  to
              start  modifying.   If  last is specified, it refers to the char
              index in the string to stop at (inclusive).  first and last  may
              be specified using the forms described in STRING INDICES.

       string totitle string ?first? ?last?
              Returns  a value equal to string except that the first character
              in string is converted to its Unicode  title  case  variant  (or
              upper  case  if  there is no title case variant) and the rest of
              the string is converted to lower case.  If first  is  specified,
              it refers to the first char index in the string to start modify-
              ing.  If last is specified, it refers to the char index  in  the
              string  to stop at (inclusive).  first and last may be specified
              using the forms described in STRING INDICES.

       string toupper string ?first? ?last?
              Returns a value equal to string except that all lower (or title)
              case  letters  have  been  converted to upper case.  If first is
              specified, it refers to the first char index in  the  string  to
              start  modifying.   If  last is specified, it refers to the char
              index in the string to stop at (inclusive).  first and last  may
              be specified using the forms described in STRING INDICES.

       string trim string ?chars?
              Returns  a  value  equal  to  string  except that any leading or
              trailing characters present in the string  given  by  chars  are
              removed.   If chars is not specified then white space is removed
              (any character for which string is space returns 1, and " ").

       string trimleft string ?chars?
              Returns a value equal to string except that any leading  charac-
              ters present in the string given by chars are removed.  If chars
              is not specified then white space is removed (any character  for
              which string is space returns 1, and " ").

       string trimright string ?chars?
              Returns a value equal to string except that any trailing charac-
              ters present in the string given by chars are removed.  If chars
              is  not specified then white space is removed (any character for
              which string is space returns 1, and " ").

   OBSOLETE SUBCOMMANDS
       These subcommands are currently supported, but are likely to go away in
       a  future release as their functionality is either virtually never used
       or highly misleading.

       string bytelength string
              Returns a decimal string giving the number of bytes used to rep-
              resent  string in memory when encoded as Tcl's internal modified
              UTF-8; Tcl may use other encodings for string as well, and  does
              not  guarantee  to  only  use a single encoding for a particular
              string.  Because UTF-8 uses a variable number of bytes to repre-
              sent Unicode characters, the byte length will not be the same as
              the character length in general.  The cases where a script cares
              about the byte length are rare.

              In  almost all cases, you should use the string length operation
              (including determining the length of a Tcl  byte  array  value).
              Refer  to  the  Tcl_NumUtfChars manual entry for more details on
              the UTF-8 representation.

              Formally, the string bytelength operation returns the content of
              the  length  field  of  the  Tcl_Obj  structure,  after  calling
              Tcl_GetString to ensure that the bytes field is populated.  This
              is  highly unlikely to be useful to Tcl scripts, as Tcl's inter-
              nal encoding is not strict UTF-8, but rather a  modified  CESU-8
              with  a  denormalized NUL (identical to that used in a number of
              places by Java's serialization mechanism) to enable  basic  pro-
              cessing with non-Unicode-aware C functions.  As this representa-
              tion should only ever be used by Tcl's implementation, the  num-
              ber  of  bytes  used  to store the representation is of very low
              value (except to C extension code, which has direct  access  for
              the purpose of memory management, etc.)

              Compatibility  note:  it  is likely that this subcommand will be
              withdrawn in a future version of Tcl. It is better  to  use  the
              encoding convertto command to convert a string to a known encod-
              ing and then apply string length to that.

                     string length [encoding convertto utf-8 $theString]

       string wordend string charIndex
              Returns the index of the character just after the  last  one  in
              the  word  containing  character charIndex of string.  charIndex
              may be specified using the forms in STRING INDICES.  A  word  is
              considered  to  be any contiguous range of alphanumeric (Unicode
              letters or decimal  digits)  or  underscore  (Unicode  connector
              punctuation)  characters,  or  any  single  character other than
              these.

       string wordstart string charIndex
              Returns the index of the first character in the word  containing
              character charIndex of string.  charIndex may be specified using
              the forms in STRING INDICES.  A word is  considered  to  be  any
              contiguous  range  of  alphanumeric  (Unicode letters or decimal
              digits) or underscore (Unicode  connector  punctuation)  charac-
              ters, or any single character other than these.


STRING INDICES

       When  referring  to  indices  into  a string (e.g., for string index or
       string range) the following formats are supported:

       integer   For any index value that passes string  is  integer  -strict,
                 the  char  specified  at  this  integral index (e.g., 2 would
                 refer to the "c" in "abcd").

       end       The last char of the string (e.g., end would refer to the "d"
                 in "abcd").

       end-N     The  last char of the string minus the specified integer off-
                 set N (e.g., "end-1" would refer to the "c" in "abcd").

       end+N     The last char of the string plus the specified integer offset
                 N (e.g., "end+-1" would refer to the "c" in "abcd").

       M+N       The  char  specified at the integral index that is the sum of
                 integer values M and N (e.g., "1+1" would refer to the "c" in
                 "abcd").

       M-N       The  char specified at the integral index that is the differ-
                 ence of integer values M and N (e.g., "2-1"  would  refer  to
                 the "b" in "abcd").

       In  the  specifications above, the integer value M contains no trailing
       whitespace and the integer value N contains no leading whitespace.


EXAMPLE

       Test if the string in the variable string is a proper non-empty  prefix
       of the string foobar.

              set length [string length $string]
              if {$length == 0} {
                  set isPrefix 0
              } else {
                  set isPrefix [string equal -length $length $string "foobar"]
              }


SEE ALSO

       expr(n), list(n)


KEYWORDS

       case  conversion,  compare, index, match, pattern, string, word, equal,
       ctype, character, reverse



Tcl                                   8.1                            string(n)

tcl 8.6.9 - Generated Fri Nov 16 19:16:45 CST 2018
© manpagez.com 2000-2024
Individual documents may contain additional copyright information.